This critique of COP29 in Baku draws on Matthew 25 to challenge the event's superficial approach to climate justice. It describes the conference as a "whitewashed tomb" that failed to address systemic issues and the needs of the vulnerable. The piece urges a deeper reflection on true climate action and advocates for a more authentic, impactful response that aligns with biblical teachings on justice and care for the marginalized.

In this article, we explore how Abraham’s negotiation with God in Genesis 18 offers profound insights into leadership, hospitality, and environmental stewardship in the context of modern global challenges like climate change. Abraham's intercession for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah reveals the moral responsibility to advocate for justice, a call that resonates today in addressing the pressing issues of climate action and sustainable solutions at global conferences like COP29. Discover the lessons that transcend time and inspire today’s environmental leaders.

On the eve of COP29 in Baku, Lowell Bliss reflects on the Christian Climate Observers Program's commitment to climate action amidst shifting political landscapes. His message emphasizes the power of faith-driven environmental leadership in addressing the urgent challenges of global climate change.

This article examines Michael the Archangel as a symbol of divine advocacy for creation, drawing insights from Revelation 12. It highlights the spiritual dimensions of climate justice, emphasizing humanity’s role in caring for the earth amidst global crises. Through theological reflections, it calls readers to action grounded in faith and responsibility.

Reflect on the parallel between Jairus's plea for his dying daughter and the urgent call for climate action. Explore the spiritual and emotional dimensions of climate change, and how prayers for our planet echo the earnestness of Jairus's prayer. Join the discussion on eco-realism and re-imagined faith for a sustainable future.

I remember when the City of Atlanta was anxiously watching its reservoir levels drop in 2007, much like what Bogota, Colombia is doing now... But there is something uniquely unsettling about when a municipality projects a “Zero Day” for their water supply, as Cape Town, South Africa did in 2018.

Applications are now open for CCOP2024, a program sponsored by the Eden Vigil Institute for Environmental Leadership and many other amazing partners….

When the prophet Isaiah begins what is famously recorded in Isaiah chapter 6 with the words, “In the year that King Uzziah died. . .“ he was certainly locating his vision historically. This is likely the year 740 BCE. Yet, Isaiah may also have been locating his vision emotionally.

"For the last few years, I have been trying to communicate with leaders of various Christian churches to urge them to bring protection and conservation of the environment into the mainstream of their faith and their teachings. I have been suggesting that Easter Monday could be a very good day for the entire Christendom to plant trees." - Wangari Maathai

One of my recent essays is “Eight Things I Discovered About Loving Your Enemies at COP28” which features a moral framework (provided by Jesus in Matthew 5 and Luke 6) and a strategic framework (provided by Martin Luther King). At one time, Morrison would have been listed as a climate enemy under the category of Obstructionist Government” or “Powerful Denier.” Australia’s Climate Council characterized the track record of the Morrison Government, at the time of COP26 in Glasgow, as “blocking global collaboration on climate action; promoting the extension and expansion of fossil fuels like coal, oil, and gas; and refusing to step up and set ambitious climate goals.” They claim that, of all Paris Agreement signatories, Australia sat at “dead last” when it came to its new emission reduction targets.

In the Fijian language, the word for enemies is meca, as in “dou lomani ira na kemudou meca,” which is Jesus’s command to “love your enemies” (Matt 5:44). This essay is my deep dive into what this means, what it feels like, and how it is deployed in the climate crisis. It’s always an exciting moment when one of our participants in the Christian Climate Observers Program (CCOP) gets to meet a US senator at a UN Climate Summit. How often does one have such high-level access to talk about climate change? How often do you meet a politician who cares? The US congressional delegation usually comes in at the start of the second week of the COP. They are greeted by the US Special Envoy on Climate, John Kerry. They come prepared with their talking points, including that one tweetable soundbite. For Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) that statement was: “The number one enemy to solving the climate crisis is the fossil fuel industry but the number two enemy is despondency.” Despite the buzz around Schatz’s quote, I however could only receive it uneasily. This, I felt, was one of the worst things the senator could have said at COP28. Read More.

This is unimaginably high-level influence.  Al Ghais himself shows up on December 10 to help advance his agenda.  He conducts a “Special Day—OPEC and the Youth.”  It’s a fireside chat.   According to Reuters, “roughly a dozen young people attended.”  Four of them were CCOPers. In the wake of that agenda, Al Ghais encounters pushback.  There’s protest out in the hallway—thank you, 350.org—but inside there are respectful questions and challenges—about Carbon Capture and Sequestration, about the false narrative that OPEC is spinning.  Our CCOPers know what they were talking about.  Al Ghais leaves.  The PR guy remains.  He is apparently frustrated—but that is because his plans have been frustrated.  What Reuters called a “charm offensive” has failed.  No one has ever likely stood up to them before in such an intimate setting.  No one has ever been given a chance to engage their falsehoods before in a dialogue setting. Read More.

I understand that the U.A.E. is rich in fossil fuels.  So is Canada, the United States, Mexico, and many of the other countries represented today in this room.  Faith communities must take up the prophetic task of promoting the love, harmony, and obedience behind Net Zero.  In the Appalachian region of the United States, there are many church buildings that have been built by the coal companies.  In the Athabasca region of northern Alberta in Canada, there are many churches dependent on offerings from families employed by the oil companies.  The same is true for churches around Houston, TX.  It is hard for a preacher to step into the pulpit with a commitment to the gospel and a commitment to the fossil fuel companies.  The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and our Apostle Paul had something in common: when they both entered the city they were disgusted, outraged, deeply troubled by the idolatry they encountered.  Today, may we also have eyes to see the idolatry that has sprung up around our use of fossil fuels. Read more

This year however, I’ve been tipped off about discovery, and am proactively planning it into my experience of COP28. This year, I intend to: 1) discover that you and I and every living creature who cares about our planet has enemies; 2) discover that “loving your enemies” introduces us to a new type of Christian love, a kind we never learned in the Sunday Schools of our dominant culture; and 3) test the validity of Martin Luther King’s assertion: “if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption.” Planet Earth could use a little redemption. The climate movement could use a new type of power. Our enemies seem to be winning. Read More.

In the end, the conscience-stricken David brings the subject of enmity back around. “May the Lord judge between you and me,' he yells at Saul from a safe distance, 'And may the Lord avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you.… May the Lord be our judge and decide between us. May he consider my cause and uphold it; may he vindicate me by delivering me from your hand.”

There’s a part of Jesus’s story in Luke 19—there’s some debate over whether it qualifies as a parable—that is about human solidarity. It begins in what we might call the ‘here and now’ with a certain rich man clothed in finery and eating the best food. A beggar named Lazarus, covered in sores, sits right outside his house.

For the sake of this paper I’ll mention only three capacities that, in my experience, evangelicalism has denied the creation care plant over the last two decades, namely: 1) a capacity for integration with the environmental justice movement, 2) a capacity to confront Christian nationalism and political conflation, and 3) a capacity to evolve that next step theologically: we abandoned Dominionism for the concept of faithful “stewardship”—thank God for Francis Schaeffer and Cal DeWitt—but now we need to develop a new, but biblical, anthropology of our creatureliness and interconnectedness. What I mean by “capacity” is: they didn’t let us go there. Evangelicalism didn’t let us go there. Read More.